Lung cancer is a public health challenge in Europe
and worldwide. Almost 400,000 new lung cancers
were diagnosed and over 330,000 Europeans died
of lung cancer in 2006 [1]. The average 5-year
survival from lung cancer in Europe is around 15%.
Nevertheless, survival from an early stage operable
non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) reaches around
70%. Nowadays, only a third of lung cancer patients
are diagnosed at these early operable stages and thus
the dismal survival numbers. The decrease in lung
cancer mortality will only be achieved if successful
strategies are developed in three directions: smoking
cessation, early diagnosis and development of new
molecular targeted therapies.